


Mer of the Myrl

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: FFXV kinkmeme, Fluff and Crack, Humor, M/M, Mermaids, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Wild goose chase, bad little mermaid jokes, bad pokemon jokes, magic talking fish, magic transformation, noct is a fish nerd, non explicit prompt, such a nerd...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-01-30 03:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12645036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: ‘My friends are dicks, I lost my carbuncle lure, I can breathe underwater and my pants exploded.’–Noctis Lucis Caelum…probably.





	1. Noctis pissed off a magikarp

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4113.html?thread=7182609#cmt7182609). Noctis gets turned into a merman.

'Respool the line, turn the rod toward the fish, dude make it quick, blah blah blah'

Fuckin'... _‘puny’ Noct's ass_.

This is why he sent his doofus friends away. Tired of the backseat fishing, he let them go along to set up camp. Not that they were far, not in the Myrlwood, but it was better than having them all breathing down his neck. They'd bitched at him one too many times as far as he was concerned. After all, fishing was supposed to be relaxing, not frustrating. How was he supposed to relax when all he heard was complaint, complaint, complaint...

Sighing, Noctis pulled the line out of the water, staring sullenly at his gemlight carbuncle lure (which hadn't done him much good so far) before his eyes drifted over the water, searching for a new spot to try. He'd been catching nothing but small fry so far, and he was determined to catch another platinum myrltrout. He'd only gotten one before, the first time they'd been to the forest to find his great-great-great grandmother's shuriken...as well as steal Spec's specs back from a black chocobo the next morning, and Noctis hadn't seen another one since. Rare as they were, they were quite the catch to Noctis and he had to admit that he enjoyed the challenge the last one offered.

Choosing a spot to the northeast of the pool, he tossed his line and got to work. Not willing to stand the entire time he waited, Noctis sat down cross-legged and settled himself comfortably. The sounds of the campsite were mostly silent save for the faint noises of Prompto and Gladio playing King's Knight in the tent and the quiet clinking as Ignis fixed dinner. The pool was still, no fish biting and no epic battles between man and...well, maybe a small epic battle between man and boredom actually. As much as Noctis loved fishing, the periods in between catches could be trying even for him.

It didn't help much that the entire atmosphere of the Myrlwood was incredibly ambient. Nothing disturbed the group in their little space near the falls, in fact nothing even bothered to move beneath the water of the pool. Noctis felt himself slowly starting to nod off at the lack of activity. It felt almost blasphemous to him, after all he'd never pass up a chance to fish—not even for a nap, but he couldn’t help it as the fatigue of the past week overtook him. His eyes slowly closed, his head tilting forward as he started to drift…

The rod was almost tugged from his hand. Jolting awake, Noctis tightened his grip on the rod. He peered down the line, watching almost uncomprehendingly as it was tugged at repeatedly. His tongue poking slightly out of his mouth in concentration, the prince readied himself for a fight. He gripped the reel with his other hand and started to quickly crank it at intervals. He was determined not to lose his lure, rare and expensive as it was, and so he wasn’t exactly eager to snap his line trying to get at the fish. It wasn’t exactly making things easy for him though. He'd have to stand up for this one.

Noctis jumped out of his position to do exactly that, hopping to his feet as he prepared to wrestle with whatever he caught. Unfortunately for him, the fish had other plans. What Noctis had thought would be a simple rise to his feet took a one-eighty into dangerous territory when the fish gave a fierce tug and yanked him right into the water. He only barely heard Ignis call out his name before he breached the surface.

Under the water, he found himself struggling to hold his grip on the fishing rod as the fish on the other end continued to thrash and pull. Slowly, Noctis realized he was being pulled through the water towards the catch.

Gods, what the hell _did_ he catch?!

His eyes were open, though squinted through the rush of water against them. Not that it mattered much as he couldn’t see anything but darkness. A few rays of light made it through the water's surface, but they were so murky that their presence was inconsequential. Noctis couldn’t see anything. Not until eventually, when his eyes were streaming and his lungs were burning, his bright blue lure came into view. And attached to it…a platinum myrltrout?

No. Not quite. It looked like a myrltrout, certainly, but its scales were such a shiny silver they almost gleamed like metal. Hell, they almost _glowed_. That wasn’t the strangest part though.

No, the strangest part was when it started fucking talking.

Its mouth wasn’t moving. In fact, it produced no sound. It seemed that its voice, high pitched and feminine like a little girl’s, manifested in Noct’s head as if he was listening to his own thoughts. If his thoughts were in the voice of a six year old girl. From a magical talking fish.

‘ _You dare snare me on a hook?!_ ’

Maybe Noctis was high…? What did Ignis cook in that morning’s breakfast??

‘ _Well? Answer me, mortal!_ ’

Unthinking, Noctis opened his mouth to reply, only to be assaulted with the fishy taste of unfiltered forest pool water and the increased burning in his lungs as water started to rush into them. Reflexively, he started coughing, which only made it worse as he inhaled more water in the process. The fish almost seemed to sigh (of all things) at him.

‘ _You humans are all the same. All stupid and savage. Here, I shall fix your pitiable state. In return you will release me and return all of the fish you captured from this pool back into their home._ ’

Abruptly, Noctis' drowning stopped and he found himself breathing normally. Underwater.

Never mind being high, maybe he just up and died.

‘ _Answer me, human. Do we have an agreement?_ ’

Grasping at his throat, he only nodded before reaching out tentatively to remove the hook from the fish's mouth. He still wasn’t sure if all of this was real, but judging from the amount if pain he was in, he’d at least wager that it was. If that was the case, he had this…magical talking fucking fish to thank so yeah, the least he could do was free her and the fish he caught. She seemed to appreciate it at least, as she glowed a bright white, the light flowing wisp-like off of her and transferring over to Noctis in wavy tendrils. He watched, fascinated, as the magic engulfed him, transforming his body slowly but surely.

‘ _I've released you from your primitive human state. Permanently. You can thank me by returning my brethren promptly,_ ’ she concluded before swimming away. Noctis was still puzzling through her words, trying to work out their meaning through the exhaustion of nearly dying and the daze of powerful magic entering his pores and eating away at his entire being, taking him apart and putting him back together again.

He also took note of the odd fact that his pants exploded. And his underwear. A strange observation of a strange situation, but it was miniscule compared the indescribable feeling of his skin hardening. Scales. There were scales on his fingers.

He pulled his hand away, examining the pearly additions to his skin. They ran down his arms, likely continuing onto his shoulders and down his back judging by the tight sensations in those places as well. When he gasped, he noticed another strange sensation. His arms curled around his ribs as he noticed a rush of water spurt out of them, sending bubbles up from underneath his shirt as he slowly lifted it. There were rows of slits along his ribcage, releasing bubbles every time he ‘inhaled' if it could even be called that.

The biggest and most important change caught his eye not too long after these first observations, glittering a deep navy, almost black, in the murky light. Swaying back and forth as it kept him afloat. It. A tail. Good Shiva, he had a tail.

At least he knew why his pants exploded now…

He was quickly jolted out these thoughts when a hand clasped around his arm, pulling him up. Once again he breached the surface of the water, taking an instinctive breath when he hit the air. Strangely, his body immediately adapted to the change in environment, his chest expanding and contracting as he took normal breaths with normal lungs. His eyes were closed in relief as he sucked in gulps of air, glad to be rid of the alien feeling of breathing with gills. When he calmed, he turned his head to the side and was met with a pair of worried green eyes. Ignis looked over him critically, checking for injuries.

“Are you alright, Noct?” he asked, voice thick with only barely quelled panic.

Unconsciously, Noctis nodded at the question despite his current state being far from the realm of ‘alright'.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, Specs, I'm fine.”

“You certainly don’t look it. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you get pulled into the water. Even more so when you didn’t come up for three minutes and I couldn’t find you,” Ignis frowned.

Noctis' eyes widened at that. Three minutes? It hadn’t felt nearly that long. Then again, one didn’t pay to much mind to the time when they were drowning whilst getting insulted by a talking fish.

That turned him into a fish.

Ignis seemed to finally realize that something was off as well, a perplexed look on his face as he pulled Noctis' arm out of the water. He looked over the flesh encircled between his fingers, a blank expression on his face as the sight of white scales registered in his mind.

“…Noct.”

Noctis cleared his throat nervously, grinning nervously as he mentally cycled through all of the ways he could try to explain this nonsense. He tried to push down the worried jolt that traveled up his spine when Ignis' sharp eyes shot to his mouth, staring in horrified fascination. More specifically, his teeth, which felt just as…odd as the rest of him. He didn’t want to know what was going on there.

“So, uh…how much do you wanna believe I got turned into a fish…by a magical talking fish?”

Ignis' blank look was both understandable and expected.


	2. Ignis meets the little mermaid

“Iggy!”

Ignis was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of Gladio’s voice over by the pier. He and Prompto were watching anxiously as Ignis pulled Noctis from underneath the water, having rushed out of the tent as soon as they heard him call Noct’s name. He didn’t even wait around for questions, jumping in immediately after Noctis and searching the murky waters for his prince. The search had gradually turned frantic the longer it took to find Noctis, and with no sign of even a head of black hair surfacing, he’d taken a chance and dove under. He’d had to take his glasses off as they were a hindrance more than a help in the moment, but that had only made it harder to see in the long run. He was determined, however. He wasn’t going to sit back and let whatever grabbed Noctis harm him, not then and not ever. And so he’d kicked off in a random direction, feeling out with his hands in hopes of touching something important. It hadn’t worked out too well at first, what with there being nothing but fish and underwater plant-life meeting his touch. It wasn’t until his fingertips brushed smooth leather that he grabbed Noct’s arm and pulled him out of the water. When they surfaced, Ignis replaced his glasses with one hand while the other kept a tight grip on the prince, holding him above the water as he gasped for air. A glance towards the pier told him that they’d made it quite far from the campsite, upon which Prompto and Gladio stood as they sent the two worried looks, before his eyes automatically switched to the prince, flitting over him in a quick assessment of injury. Thankfully, there were none. There was something…rather peculiar going on however.

It didn’t hit Ignis until he registered the sturdy scaly substance over Noctis’ arm. Even more peculiar was when he pulled that arm out of the water to find that it wasn’t merely a substance. There were pearly white scales coating the back of Noctis’ arm, the underside still smooth and soft as flesh. And when Ignis looked up to question Noctis, he was met with a grin containing rows of abnormally sharp, needle-like teeth. Even his eyes gave off a strange sheen, reflecting the dim light that met them on the occasion that he moved his head at the right angle.

It was decidedly unnerving. The prince’s explanation was even more so. Turned into a fish by a magical talking fish. Not that they hadn’t run into strange things before and, in turn, been _turned into_ strange things, but they’d never seen a transformation like this before. They’d been turned into frogs, statues, and so forth, but never unidentifiable creatures. Or what Ignis had thought was unidentifiable in that moment. It was when he felt something large and smooth bump into his leg that he looked back down into that murky pool…and found a tail swishing back and forth. A fish tail, specifically.

Noctis had been turned into a merman. This was what he meant by being turned into a fish.

Needless to say, he wasn’t entirely sure how to react to this. Silently, he pulled Noctis along as they swam back to the pier, trying not to think too hard about the way Noctis moved through the water. Smoothly and swiftly. Like he belonged in it.

Honestly, he knew Noct liked fish but this was going a bit too far.

He also wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to the half-worried, half-questioning looks the other two gave them as he heaved himself out of the water, Noctis staying behind despite having almost drowned earlier. Ignis only pulled off his glasses again so he could, rather pointlessly, wipe them off with his shirt, giving his hands something to do. His clothes were already soaking and in disarray anyway so it wasn’t as if it did any harm. To them, at least. When he placed his glasses back on his face he found himself squinting through tiny droplets of water on the glass.

He took them off again.

“Uh…you guys alright?” Prompto asked, his brow furrowing in question when he noticed that Ignis hadn’t bothered to pull Noctis out of the water despite the fuss he made trying to retrieve him. Ignis only nodded, still processing the oddity of the entire situation. Luckily for him, it didn’t take long to do so.

“We’re quite fine, Prompto, thank you,” he finally answered after a beat of silence.

Gladio gave them both a confused frown before moving forward to grab Noctis, who’d moved to rest against the pier with his head in his arms. The prince waved him offed, shaking his head.

“I’m alright, Gladio,” he said. Gladio, expectedly, rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, because anyone would be ‘alright’ after getting dragged into the water and nearly drowning,” he said. Noctis huffed a short laugh, shrugging.

“I’m still here aren’t I?”

From behind Gladio, Prompto squinted at Noct for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened.

“Bro, what the hell’s up with your teeth?!”

Gladio glanced back at Prompto before turning to Noctis again, examining him closely this time and quickly coming to the same conclusion had previously had. That something was very off with their prince.

“Are those…scales? What, did you go and turn into a fish behind our backs?” he asked. This time is was Ignis who barked out a laugh, having already known what the answer to that would be.

“…Possibly?”

This time both Gladio and Prompto were quiet. Taking the initiative, Noctis motioned his hands at Ignis before planting his palms flat on the wood, grunting with the effort of heaving himself up.

“Help me up, Iggy,” he added, though it was unnecessary as Ignis had already scooted over to Noctis and grabbed at his crumpled, wet clothes, pulling him up onto the pier. It had taken a bit of effort, Noct’s transformed bottom half having made him a bit heavier, but they’d managed to pull him out of the water and set him in front of Ignis. He nodded a thanks at the advisor before turning to their friends…who both had their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. The light from the runes caught Noctis’ new scales illuminating them in bright hues of blue and white, glittering as they reflected it. His tail splashed ripples into the water as he swung it lightly, causing the gossamer fins at his hips to sway slightly. Prompto reached up to run his fingers thoughtlessly through his hair as he stared at the new changes, messing the styling up. He didn’t seem to pay it any mind as he spoke though.

“Dude! You’re the little mermaid!”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Prompto…”

“No, no, no, I gotta know! Are you gonna sing Part of your World to us?”

“Prompto.”

“…Are you gonna sing it to Iggy? Have the sunlight illuminate you romantically from behind and all?”

Gladio snorted. Noctis only glared at the blond, though it wasn’t very severe.

“You’re so lucky I can’t walk right now.”

“Thought you’d be happy, becoming the fish prince,” Gladio added, grinning. “You know that saying ‘you are what you eat’? I think you had it coming.”

Prompto burst into laughter and both of them earned two raised middle fingers, courtesy of His Royal Highness. Ignis only sighed.

“This entire situation feels fishy.”

“Ignis, I swear to the fucking gods—”

“I’ve never seen this sort of effect before,” he continued. Gladio nodded along.

“True,” he said. “But we don’t exactly hang around in the water all the time, so maybe it is normal and we’ve just never found the right circumstances to get hit by it. Might’ve been some sort of monster.”

Prompto looked over at Noctis for clarification.

“It wasn’t a monster. At least, I don’t think…”

“Ah, the ‘magical talking fish’?” Ignis asked. “Yes, do please elaborate on that.”

Noctis dived into his story, explaining the platinum myrltrout that he’d met under the water, which had spoken to him in a childlike, condescending voice before deigning to ‘fix’ his ‘pitiable human state’. What was particularly worrying was that she did this for a price. It was easy enough to dump the fish Noctis had caught that day back into the pool, but he’d also fished their previously…a few weeks ago. There was no way the magical talking fish was getting those brethren back. And if she had enough power to turn Noctis into a merman, there was no telling what she’d do if the prince didn’t hold up his end of the deal.

“Well…maybe she’ll turn you back if you don’t dump all the fish back?” Prompto shrugged after Noctis finished his explanation.

“Possibly? I don’t know if I want to take that chance, though. She _could_ turn me back…or she could just outright kill me,” Noctis responded, oddly nonchalantly despite the prospect of his life being potentially threatened by a trout.

And that brought up another prominent issue. She _could_ turn him back. But if she chose not to then his predicament was potentially permanent.

Ignis wasn’t a selfish man. He couldn’t find it within himself to want more than what he’s been given in life, after all he’s been given so much. He had the privilege of being born into a prestigious noble family, of becoming the advisor to the future king, of being blessed with all of his abilities, and so on and so forth. However, he could at least admit to himself, quite easily, that he wasn’t at all ready for his royal lover to be a fish for the rest of his life.

“How easily do you think she’d fall for a trick?” Gladio asked, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin. Noctis raised both of his eyebrows at his shield.

“She’s a fish.”

“Who turned you into a fish after _talking to you_ , smartass. I’m serious, do you think she’ll know if all the fish in the pool will have been from this specific one?”

“Couldn’t tell ya,” Noctis shrugged. “At least for the small fry. I think she’ll notice the other platinum myrltrout still missing.”

“Well, shit,” Gladio sighed. Prompto and Noctis followed suit.

“Well before we all run off on some half-brained scheme to start tossing random fish into a foreign environment, Noct how about you try a remedy? It may simply be a status effect,” Ignis proposed.

There was a small skeptical look that crossed Noctis’ face at the suggestion, but he did as Ignis asked, pulling a remedy out of his arsenal and crushing it between his fing—Good gods, his fingers were webbed. How hadn’t he noticed that when Noct flipped Gladio and Prompto the bird—right. No glasses. Honestly, Ignis was surprised at this point that he’d caught sight of them at all.

The group waited with bated breath as the telltale magic glow surrounded Noctis, hoping to see the effects follow immediately after.

And…

Nothing.

The future of Lucis was still a fish.

Well, half-fish. But still.

“Goddamnit,” Gladio groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. Prompto sent a sympathetic look towards Noctis.

“Sorry, buddy. Teasing aside, I can’t image how that must feel not being able to get your body back.”

“Eh. It’s not so bad,” Noctis said. Hefting himself off of the pier, he slid back into the water in one smooth motion, resting his arms on the wooden surface again. “Could be worse, really.”

“Worse than being permanently a merman?”

Noctis only shrugged again.

“We’ll look more into ways to change you back tomorrow, Noct. For now, we ought to rest up. There will be daemons hanging about in the Myrlwood now that it’s starting to get dark, and we’ll only be endangering ourselves if we try to leave now,” Ignis said, rubbing his temple with one hand and replacing his glasses with the other, causing them to become a bit lopsided. Noctis reached out one of those webbed hands and pushed them up the bridge of his nose to right them, his fingers brushing lightly against Ignis’ skin, almost lingering, before he pulled them back. Ignis clasped it with his free hand, a reassuring gesture that he wasn’t upset with Noctis for what had been done to him regardless of his exasperated tone.

“Got it, Iggy,” Prompto nodded, sending a thumbs up to the couple on the pier as Gladio turned and started heading towards the camp. “I’m beat anyway. We’ll leave you two to your kinky fish sex.”

Whatever it was Noctis pulled out of his arsenal to throw at Prompto, it clearly wasn’t meant to do damage considering that the blond kept cackling even as it collided with his back during his escape into the tent.


	3. Prince Noctis and the Bad Movie References

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.

Oddly enough, Noctis could actually feel himself starting to get used to the weird changes to his body. Yeah, he was breathing water through his nose and it was exiting out of his ribcage and that was still _really fucking weird_ but he supposed it could have been worse. He could have permanently been turned into a frog. He’d take being a merman over that any day.

Actually sleeping in the water was…an experience to say the least, though. He’d settled at the bottom of the Myrlwood pool, curling into himself as he usually did when he slept, only to find his new tail nearly wrap itself over his head, creating a sheer cover with the filmy texture of his fin. Around him, marine life continued on as if normal. A few miniscule life forms floated lazily past him, brushing against his skin every time he shifted. There were some fish here and there that seemed to give him a wide berth, as if they found him to be a threat. Which, he supposed, made sense considering his hobby. And his typical favor towards fish-oriented meals. And his newly acquired shark teeth. Those might’ve helped make him a little more intimidating.

Honestly, he found himself at a bit of a loss when he almost bit his own lip off with them.

The magic trout had yet to make another appearance, however. Considering how she spoke to him, he half expected her to assault him the moment he re-entered the water. Yet she was a no show. Which was, admittedly, a little worrying because Noctis wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to change back without going to her about it. If she’d change him back at all. She really seemed to think she was doing him a favor by permanently turning him into a merman.

Though Noctis still found himself admitting that he didn’t find it all that bad.

Now of course he was sensible enough to know he couldn’t stay this way forever. He had tasks to complete, a duty to fulfill and a throne to reclaim. He couldn’t do that with fins and scales. But as he grew more and more accustomed to his new state of being as the night passed, slowly but surely, he found that it wasn’t quite as odd as he first felt. There was an extra muscle tone to him that not even Gladio’s training had given him, providing just enough power needed to propel himself though a current. His ability to breathe both above and underwater was likely to be useful somewhere, especially once it came time to leave the woods. The new additions to his body weren’t all so visible either: certainly he had scales and a tail now, but his sight was far more suited to dark conditions, providing him superior vision under the murky water to what he had before. On top of that, he could… _sense things_. It was an indescribable feeling, like knowing something was there as if he could feel it with no touch and see it with no sight, but it told him exactly where things were in proximity to him. It also made normal touch a bizarre sensation. Like everything was electrified. And he’d thought touching Ignis on a normal day was an extraordinary experience. Now it was that times fifty. Or something.

Whatever it was, he liked it. It was pretty cool…

Of course, new senses and feelings aside, Noctis really did hope he’d turn back eventually. He couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life as a fish. It was nice in the moment, but soon enough he’d be a liability. On his own journey. That was, in his honest opinion, unacceptable. He couldn’t imagine how his ancestors would roll in their graves at the thought of their progeny getting _harpooned_ of all things by the empire.

Though that’d actually be a pretty funny way to go when he thought about it. Well, probably not in the moment when he’d actually be getting harpooned, but it’d be a story for his heavenly grandkids: ‘hey kiddos didja know I got harpooned to death while trying to fight the empire as a fish?’

Wasn’t there a trident royal arm? Noctis felt like he could make some sort of reference out of that. That’d be even better, dying while trolling the empire. ‘You have incurred the wrath of King Tritonoct. Now you must fear the sea’s revenge!’

He really ought to go to sleep.

-o-

After having woken up to find a school of tiny fish nibbling at his jacket and nestling in his hair, Noctis had decided he’d spent enough time hanging around in the Myrlwood fishing pool. He’d batted them all away (lightly so as to not draw the ire of Snooty Magikarp so she’d turn him into an eel or something) and swam back up to the surface, finding, not at all to his surprise, that his friends had already gotten their day started. The tent had been pulled down and the smell of bacon met Noctis’ nose, causing his stomach to growl. He swam over to the pier, resting on the wood as he watched the other three go about their business. Prompto was fiddling with his camera, clicking past whichever photos he was planning on deleting and pausing on the ones he was saving. Gladio was stretching, likely after having completed his morning exercise. Ignis was picking up around the campsite, making sure that everyone’s mess was in one place so nothing would be left behind, leaving the food on low so that it would remain heated until everyone was ready to eat.

Noctis continued to watch the activities until someone eventually noticed him, unsure of what else to do with himse—wait. Where did his fishing pole go?

Turning his head, he scanned the surface of the water until he caught side of a thin object floating amidst a collection of pieces of black cloth (three guesses what those were) in the distance, right around where Ignis had pulled him out of the water. He pushed away from the pier to swim towards it, slipping under the water where he could move easier and faster. It was strange how easily he could still see the fishing rod, despite how murky the water was. It’d taken only moments to get to it, reaching his hand out to pull it under the water with him. Examining it, he found it mostly unharmed. Except…

His carbuncle lure was missing. That stupid trout must’ve eaten it. Damn it. Those lures were ridiculously expensive.

He’d sigh if it wasn’t for the fact that he physically couldn’t underwater. Instead he placed the rod back in his arsenal in a flash of blue light before swimming back to the pier. The others had noticed him at this point, all three of them watching as his head popped out of the water again, gripping onto the wood to once again pull himself out of the water. Ignis walked over to help him again, which Noctis was grateful for as he doubted any amount of arm strength would’ve stopped his hands from slipping on the wet surface, pulling him onto the pier and setting him down again. Gladio and Prompto made their way over as well, crouching down to be level with the prince.

“So, did you get another visit from Malefishcent?” Prompto asked, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands as if the words that just came out of his mouth were in any way normal.

“I think she’d be Ursula more than anything,” Noctis snorted. Was he feeding into Prompto’s little mermaid joke? Yes. Did he care at this point? Nope.

“Nah. Even Ursula gave Ariel a three day time limit instead of making it permanent. Plus…Ariel actually wanted to be a human.”

“Ursula was also planning on turning Ariel into a polyp and keeping her as a pet for eternity, so…”

“Might we focus on the larger issue at hand?” Ignis asked, a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“Yeah, if you didn’t get a visit from the wicked fish of the west then she’s probably not planning on hanging around to change you back anytime soon,” Gladio said. Noctis looked back at the pool, almost hoping to catch at least a tiny glimpse of silver scales in the event that their terrible movie references might at least insult her enough that she’d show up and change Noct back out of spite. Alas. Nothing. Which was somewhat nonsensical as it wasn’t a very big pool in the first place. Where the hell could she have disappeared to?

“Uh, should I ask what that is over there?” Prompto said, pointing at the remains of Noctis’ pants. In answer, he gestured vaguely at his decidedly pantsless appearance. The others got the idea quickly enough.

“So…you do have a spare pair of pants, right?” Prompto asked. Gladio answered before Noctis could get a word in.

“Trust me, all of us do. He’ll be fine. What we should be worrying about is how to transport His Royal Fishness out of here. We don’t know if he’ll dry out if he’s away from water for too long.”

“Anyone have a gold fish bowl?” Prompto offered. Noctis nodded seriously.

“You’re right, that would be perfect. It’d fit right over your head.”

Prompto only grinned. Gladio snorted at the response, standing out of his crouch before walking over to pat Ignis’ shoulder.

“You carrying him, Iggy, or am I? We don’t really have the time to figure anything else out right now.” An amused glance was sent to the group’s gunner. “Nor do we have any spare gold fish bowls.”

“It’d probably be best if you carried him, Gladio. He’d slow you down the least,” Ignis answered. He must not have missed the small flinch from Noctis out of the corner of his eye, as he’d leaned over to touch his arm in comfort.

“I don’t mean to suggest you’d be a burden, Noctis. But you can’t deny you’re not exactly suited to moving around on land in this state, and Prompto and I would be better suited to keeping our hands free in case something attacks us.”

Yeah, Noctis understood it. But it was still a bit upsetting, knowing he’d have to be carted around (by Gladio, of all people…he’d hoped Iggy would volunteer, he wouldn’t have minded being carted around by him as much) instead of being able to fight alongside the guys if they ran into trouble. And gods help them if they ran into the empire once they left.

He’d have to suck it up and just deal with it, when it came down to it.

“Well, before we worry about going anywhere…how about we eat first? Maybe?” Prompto suggested. Everyone nodded in tandem, and the other three started walking away, leaving Noctis staring in frustration at their backs.

“Really?” he asked. “Am I supposed to float over there?”

Ignis stopped in his tracks, quickly turning to grip Noctis under his arms and pull him over to the campsite to join in on the meal.

Noctis found out rather quickly that he couldn’t chew properly with his new teeth.

It led to an awkward breakfast.


	4. Ignis has a plan

“Do you think the hunters might know what’s going on with Noct?”

The question had come up soon after they left the Myrlwood, sprinting through the forest in hopes of avoiding unwanted attention from the creatures that dwelled there. Along the dirt path leading back to the car, they’d found no trouble imperial or otherwise. But all of them were on edge, and it had become a priority to find a way to change Noctis back. Even the prince himself, draped over one of Gladio’s shoulders like a sack of potatoes, had his guard up and a magic flask at the ready in the event of an attack. It was clear he was antsy, his eyes flitting about as he scanned the area behind them for threats, which was sadly understandable as his lack of legs could easily land him in trouble out on the road. Unfortunately, however, they were no closer now than they were the previous night to finding a way to change Noctis back.

Although asking the hunters was a good suggestion. Though Ignis doubted they’d really have answers for the group, but it was worth a shot to try all of their options before giving up.

“We could head to Meldacio to see if any of them there have ever seen a case such as this. It’s on the way, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to ask,” he told Gladio. The shield nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, if anyone should know about this sorta thing, it’s them.”

“And if they don’t?” came Noctis’ muffled voice from behind Gladio.

“Then we’ll attempt Gladio’s idea. Although that missing myrltrout is a bit worrying. We won’t be able to find that in any other bodies of water…” Ignis said, a hand at his chin as he considered their options.

“Don’t they have all sorts of fish from all over in Lestallum? Maybe we could try there,” Prompto suggested. Ignis was already shaking his head.

“It won’t do any good to dump a dead fish into the pool.” It’d likely just insult the magic talking fish, Ignis figured.

“Yeah, but they have tanks with live fish to keep them fresh sometimes though, right?”

They did. Here and there, Lestallum kept tanks for live seafood so as to keep up fresh stock. After all, the city wasn’t lucky enough to have a ready supply of wild, fresh fish as Caem and Galdin Quay did. Yet there was also no guarantee that anyone would have platinum myrltrout in any of those tanks. They were a rare and difficult to obtain species, after all. That Noctis even caught one was a sign of his own luck. Whether that was good or bad luck, Ignis had yet to decide. He was leaning heavily towards bad as of now.

In the same vein, he really couldn’t write Prompto’s words off so easily. He did intend on trying all their options, and if Lestallum was one available to them then they would go there and see. He nodded at the blond.

“We’ll head to Lestallum after we leave Meldacio then.”

“And hit up any fishing spots in the area,” Noctis added. “The trout wasn’t my only catch, after all.”

“And that. Do you happen to remember what other fish you caught, Highness?” Ignis asked.

“About five Cleigne brown trouts, four maiden brook trouts, two cascade dace and that one platinum myrltrout.”

“So now we must find the other trout types as well as that dace,” Ignis said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. By this point, the group had reached the car and were now standing around as they planned out their next course of action. Ignis stood at the driver’s side, drumming the fingers of his free hand against the car door.

“If it helps,” Noctis added. “I know where the brown trout and brook trout are. They’re even in the same pool. It’s that dace we need to worry about. Haven’t seen that anywhere other than the falls.”

Everyone blinked at Noctis, blank faced. He only watched them curiously from over Gladio’s shoulder.

“What?”

“Dude. You’re such a fish nerd,” Prompto snorted. Gladio laughed in agreement and even Ignis found himself sharing the sentiment. He’d thought this was going to be some continent wide search for the fish, but leave it to Noct to know what he was looking for.

“We’ll handle the dace when we get around to it. If we’re lucky, it and the platinum myrltrout will both be in Lestallum,” Ignis said.

“Kay, that’s nice and all but—” Gladio hefted Noctis up from where he had started to slip, before continuing. “Where are we gonna put Prince Gar?”

“In the back? Where I usually am?” Noctis offered rather snarkily.

“You do realize you’re now longer than I am tall, right?” Gladio rolled his eyes.

“Miracles _can_ happen.”

“Shut up, idiot, where are we putting you?”

Prompto raised his hand for whatever reason. “Why don’t you lay him across your lap?”

“ _Gross_ ,” Noctis complained. “Can’t I lay across Ignis’ lap?”

“Like you don’t do that every other day,” Gladio grumbled. Ignis cleared his throat before the conversation could get anymore vulgar. He already still owed Prompto a smack in the back of the head for the ‘fish sex’ comment. He didn’t need to hear any more of that.

“Unfortunately, Highness, I’m driving. Gladio, if you would,” Ignis said, nodding his head at the back seat before getting into the driver’s seat. The other three clambered into the car after him, Prompto hopping into the passenger’s seat while Gladio tried to maneuver both himself and Noctis into the back. It didn’t work out as well as they had hoped. The end of Noctis’ tail hung over the other side of the car as his top half was cramped awkwardly against his own side. He sent an annoyed look at his shield as he tried to adjust himself out of the position he’d been set in.

“You’re so lucky my spine’s so much more bendy now.”

“Whatever, Ariel. Lay still and quit squirming around,” Gladio huffed, pushing Noctis’ midnight tail out of his face. Petulantly, Noctis whacked him in the face with a fin. Ignis rolled his eyes at both of them.

“ _If you’re done_ ,” he started. “I’d like to reach Meldacio before nightfall.” Not that it’d take that long to drive there, but Ignis could never make accurate predictions of what time they’ll get anywhere when the other three so often let themselves get distracted by whatever shiny thing caught their eye. Literally in Prompto’s case.

“Well, after Meldacio, we need to head to the Maidenwater. That’s where we’ll find the brown and brook trouts,” Noctis said, shifting again as he tried to adjust himself. Ignis pulled off slowly, not wanting to dislodge him. He mentally set the course for the hunter headquarters, turning onto the highway in the proper direction.

“That’s if we need to go in the first place,” Prompto said as he leaned against the door with an arm.

“C’mon, Prom. You actually think they’re gonna know anything about some magic fish at the HQ? No one even goes to the Myrlwood; we’re the only crazy bastards around who bother,” Noctis said. Prompto frowned at him.

“Sounds like somebody’s being a Mr. Grumpy Gills.”

“I will bite you.”

“Kinky.”

Ignis would be rubbing the headache out of both of his temples if not for the fact that doing so would probably kill them all in the resulting crash.

“Is there ever a day the three of you don’t bicker like old maids?” he asked.

“Huh? Yeah, dude, plenty of times,” Prompto said.

“Yeah, sometimes we’re obnoxious to other people instead,” Noctis added.

“I didn’t even say anything,” Gladio concluded.

“Seriously though, Noct, no need to be so pessimistic. We’ll find a way to get you back to being you! Swear it!” Prompto promised. A heavy promise with no guarantee, but if there was anything Prompto specialized in, it was raising spirits. It almost made Ignis want to believe that someone in Meldacio would have some answers.

-o-

So of course when they got to Meldacio, no one had any answers. They’d asked Dave, they’d asked Ezma. They’d even made the unfortunate mistake of asking Sania, who had been visiting the outpost for the sake of her own research.

“Never seen anything like this,” Sania said, her eyes shiny with excitement as she pushed her glasses up and continued to study Noctis. He’d been left in the car as there was nowhere else to put him, particularly nowhere wet, and he’d get himself hurt being left on the ground somewhere.

“So we can definitely rule ‘common status effect’ out,” Gladio sighed. Beside him, Dave shrugged his shoulders sadly.

“Sorry, y’all. Wish I could help more, but I ain’t never seen nothin’ like this either,” he said.

“May I?” Sania asked, a hand hovering over his tail. Before he could ask what she was planning to do, she plucked a scale off of his tail (resulting in a loud yelp of pain from the prince) before holding it up to her face, examining it closely. She hummed quietly as she turned the scale side to side between her fingers.

“And y’all said this was permanent?” Dave asked, watching the professor warily as she studied the pilfered scale.

“That’s what the being that turned Noctis said,” Ignis responded. Dave sighed and shook his head.

“It don’t sound like no daemon, but I can’t imagine what the hell else it could be. I only ever seen daemons communicate like that, and even then, not very well…”

“She wasn’t a daemon, I know that for sure,” Noctis said. Sania looked up from the scale, raising an eyebrow at the prince.

“’She’?”

“Yeah. She was this magical platinum myrltrout. Or at least looked like one. Except she was shinier and could talk to me in my head,” Noctis explained.

“Interesting. A magic myrltrout… You know, I might have an idea. You guys keep up with your mythology?” she asked. The five men all raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“No offense, but I wouldn’t have figured _you_ to,” Gladio said. Sania shrugged.

“Everyone learns the stories in school. Anyway, I’m not sure I can tell you for certain who it was you met in that water _yet_ , but give me a little time with this scale and maybe I’ll have an answer for you.”

“In the meantime, you four be careful out there,” Dave said. “Y’all are a little too vulnerable to be pickin’ fights, y’hear?”

“Got it,” Gladio nodded.

“I’ll call if I hear any news on this fish o’ yours. You boys gotta plan?”

“The fish did say she wanted all of Noct’s catches returned to the pool. We’re gonna see if we can trick her with the same species from other pools,” Prompto said. Dave gave them all an understandably skeptical look.

“Well alright then. Good luck with that.” He turned to look at Noct. “You get’cherself in some water soon. Don’t wanna dry out on the road.”

Noctis nodded. “Already planning on it.”

Dave nodded and left them to their own devices. The trio climbed back into the car, Ignis mentally running over where the Maidenwater was in relation to their current location. It was time to head there and get started on their harebrained scheme.

Hopefully the magic fish wouldn’t get angry and turn them all into guppies or some such.


	5. Noctis is actually a fish nerd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter is short

It felt oddly good to be back in water.

As far as Noctis was concerned at least.

The group had followed through on their plans of bringing fish from other pools back to the Myrlwood falls, and it had started with a trip to the Maidenwater. Noctis had quickly been dumped into the water and let loose on the fish within. Or, at least, that was probably the plan before Noctis nearly got buried by a school of travelling salmon. Nebula salmon, he’d noted with interest. Those were good catches. He’d probably be back for those later if they came this way again. But, of course, that wasn’t his priority. He reoriented himself and picked a direction to swim in. It certainly gave him more freedom having access to the entire river and not just that one small area off the pier, but he’d have to be careful not to swim too far and lose the others. It was difficult to hold back, however. Being in water felt natural, gliding through the river current being as easy as breathing (and breathing was still weird for him as he noted that pulling in water through his nose not only didn’t burn but prompted no response from his lungs) and, most importantly, fishing was as simple as reaching a hand out and grasping. It was as if he was _made_ to catch fish…an interesting gift considering that catching fish was how he ended up being one.

Noctis also found it interesting not only how well he took to water, but how well his body reacted to it. He hadn’t noticed it as they were driving, too busy picking on Gladio by slapping him with his tail, or playing king’s knight with Prompto while they waited at rest stops while the gas tank was being refilled, or running his finger’s lightly through Ignis’ hair in his poorly disguised attempts to distract him –Iggy knew better than to fall for it anyway– that he actually had been drying out. His scales were a little duller, lacked that gleaming luster they had shone at the Myrlwood falls, and his skin had started to feel a bit rough. His eyes had started to burn a bit and his hair felt like straw. It was high time he was stuck back in the water, and once he was he found his scales bright and shiny again and his eyes moist again and his hair soft again. As relieving as it was in the moment, however, it was cause for concern once they got to Lestallum. Not only were there no bodies of water around, but it was so damn hot Noctis was worried he might actually dry out faster there. Gods knew what that’d do to him.

They’d cross that bridge when they got to it. In the meantime, Noctis had some work to do. He searched the waters for the specific fish he needed, trying to pick out the trout from the other fish. And then to make sure that the trout he caught were still native to the Myrlwood falls, which meant no rainbow trout…or at least normal rainbow trout since the species of the Myrl looked a bit different, and, of course, no river dace as it held a noticeably different coloration to the cascade dace. That would be left for Lestallum. For now…

Aha!

He spotted a golden brown fish moving along the river bed and started shifting into position. He’d have to be quick to catch it with his bare hands. Cleigne brown trout weren’t too difficult to reel in, but they could be slippery. And fast when they wanted to be. Once Noctis was lined up with it however, his hand outstretched readily, he launched himself at the fish and grasped it tightly within his webbed fingers.

Looked like he was faster. A benefit as far as he saw it. The sooner he got this over with, the better. He swam back to the surface with the first catch, tossing it at the pier (as he didn’t trust putting anything alive in his armiger) so that the others could place it in a bucket before diving back under the water. Someone had shouted something at him, likely in protest of having fish thrown at them, but he ignored it and continued. As much as he enjoyed fishing, this was work to be done and he didn’t really have the time or the patience to hang back and chat. He needed his body back. After all, despite how cool it was to be able to swim so swiftly through the river current, or breathe under water, or fish however he wanted for however long he wanted, or…

Well, yeah it was nice being a merman. Really nice. But he still needed his legs back so he could get his crystal back. So yeah. Myrlmer Noct had to go. Sadly.

Getting himself back on track, he surveilled the area for the next catch. He had one brown trout down and four more to go. As well as four more maiden brook trouts. And speaking of, there was the familiar silver and red sheen of a brook trout just a few feet away. He’d figured his luck was turning up with the easy catch of two trouts in barely one minute, having tossed the second one at whomever happened to be standing closest to the river before disappearing under the water again. But no. No, that second catch seemed to put it in the fishes’ tiny little brains that there was a predator in the water. Which there technically was, but still. It would’ve been nice if they hadn’t all started scattering once he reentered.

Noctis frowned in thought as he noticed how quickly the area cleared. He _could_ just get out of the water and fish the usual way. But then there’d be nothing to catch, not within the small space of the Maidenwater. He supposed he could just travel up and down the river. But that might worry Iggy and the others. Mostly Iggy. Then again, being a merman for the rest of his life would probably worry everyone so it might just be for the best to leave the general Maidenwater section.

Without putting anymore thought into it, not allowing second thoughts and doubts to bring his resolve down, he picked a direction and swam. The river bed grounded him, allowing him to keep his eyes peeled for more fish without knocking into rocks and the pollution that came with runoff. On top of how good it felt to be in the water again, Noctis noticed that it felt even better to travel so quickly through it. He felt powerful, knowing he could make this sort of trip on his own. He wouldn’t be surprised if he could travel the entire length of the river in a few days. Honestly, he felt strong enough to make the trip to Altissia on his own. Not that he would because he really didn’t want to go there in the first place and he was sure anyway that with his luck, he’d accidently wake up Leviathan and get eaten alive or something. It didn’t change how he felt though. As if the waters were his to traverse, maybe even to control. Here in the river, he was top dog not because he was born to be, but because he was made to be. It was a thought that gave him peace of mind as he swam, almost absentmindedly catching fish along the way. It was a tight squeeze trying to clutch seven different fish in his arms, and he found himself grateful for the webbing between his fingers as it kept the slippery bodies from escaping through them, but he managed to find the rest of the trout he needed. Resurfacing, he looked around the area he’d ended up in and tried to figure out where he was.

…Where was he?

Oh gods, he was lost. How in the hell had he managed to get lost traveling a _river_?! Even he couldn’t explain that one. He sighed and looked down at the fish in his arms, still submerged to keep them alive. He’d have to stay put and hope someone found him before sunset…which was in about half an hour judging by the sky. Maybe he’d get lucky and they would have kept up with him?

Nope. Not a person in sight. Noctis leaned back and floated for a while, waiting.

The others found him eventually.


	6. Ignis is all business

“I can’t fucking believe this.”

“Noct—”

“No. _No,_ do not say anything to me.”

“It’s just a bath, bro. Don’t you like baths?”

“Yeah, when I’m _actually taking a bath_.”

Ignis sighed as Prompto continued to goad Noctis on. It wasn’t as if they wanted to leave Noctis in a bathtub, but there was really no other way of ensuring that he stayed in the city. They couldn’t dump him in someone’s pool and there were no natural bodies of water around. They certainly couldn’t take him into the market as they tried to find someone who might possibly have a couple of cascade dace and a platinum myrltrout lying around. Not only was there every possibility that Noctis would suffer, but considering the unlikelihood of any of those fish actually being in the city, his suffering would be prolonged. It had already hurt enough to see the amount of pain he was in as they entered the city. His skin had dried out so badly that it had become red and raw, his scales pale and sickly looking. His eyes were squeezed shut as tears streamed down his cheeks, an attempt from his body to keep them moist in such dry, hot weather. He’d cried out whenever he was touched, and Ignis had to grit his teeth from nagging at Gladio to be careful with him, knowing that it wouldn’t help and would only frustrate the shield. As far as Ignis saw it, putting Noctis in a bathtub at the hotel was a far better alternative to watching him go through that again. Thankfully, when they left he’d have enough moisture over his skin and scales to avoid having quite so bad a reaction.

His complaints were a small trade off in comparison.

“Noctis, you’ll only have to bear it for a short while as Gladio, Prompto and I search the market for the fish we need. In the meantime, you’ll still have company so it won’t be so bad.”

They’d called Iris and Talcott into their room to keep Noctis occupied as well as to ensure he wouldn’t be alone. He wasn’t completely helpless in his current state, after all he could still use magic and could still call his weapons to him, but it eased Ignis’ mind immensely to know that he wouldn’t have to fend for himself in the event that something should happen. And anyway, both Iris and Talcott readily agreed to stay with Noctis on the condition of hearing exactly what happened and why he couldn’t leave the room, so Ignis was sure they’d all amuse themselves with that story.

“This will all be over soon, Noct. Just a little bit longer and we’ll have you back to yourself,” Ignis continued before leaning over to plant a kiss on Noctis’ lips. He pulled away before he could let the prince deepen the kiss, knowing better than to end up with a repeat of the previous night. Thank the gods for potion or the cut on his lip would’ve been a bit more than a minor annoyance.

Needless to say, he was eager to see Noctis back to his human form as quickly as possible.

Standing up and straightening his clothes, he nodded at Prompto and they both exited the bathroom. Iris and Talcott were already outside, sitting on one of the beds as they waited. The younger Amicitia raised an eyebrow at them both, curious.

“So what’s this about Noct being a fish?” she asked. Talcott nodded next to her.

“I was wondering about that too. Is that why he can’t leave the room?”

Before Ignis could answer, Prompto cut in. “Noct turned into a mermaid!”

“Merman!” Noctis voice corrected from the bathroom.

“Whatever dude, you’re still a fish!”

Iris gasped and stood up from the bed, her eyes lit up with excitement. “I wanna see!” she exclaimed, running into the bathroom. Talcott was on her heels, sharing easily in her enthusiasm. A loud squeal of ‘you’re so pretty Noct!’ echoed off of the bathroom tiles and Ignis sent Noctis a silent apology before he and Prompto left the hotel room. Gladio stood outside the door, leaning against the wall as he waited.

“We ready to go?”

“Yes,” Ignis answered. “You’re sure you’re alright with leaving Iris and Talcott here?”

“They’ll be fine. Let’s just get this done quickly,” Gladio said, pushing off from the wall and heading the group as they walked out of the Leville. They made a beeline for the market place, pushing through the crowd of people who had gathered there. A notably larger crowd than usual, much to Ignis’ dismay. This would mean more time wasted getting around crowded human bodies than necessary, and subsequently less time searching for the fish they needed.

“Sheesh, we’ll be out here all day at this rate…” Prompto said, his hands behind his head in a relaxed position as he looked around.

“Yeah, no. I’m not staying out here all day looking for fish. We keep our eyes peeled and jump on the first opportunity, crowd be damned,” Gladio said with a determined look in his eye.

“We’re not mowing people over, Gladio,” Ignis was quick to reprimand. He wasn’t quite in the mode for getting accosted by angry locals. Or worse. Angry law enforcement. Being Insomnian nobles didn’t excuse them from the law after all. And Prompto didn’t even have _that_ excuse.

“I’m not planning on it, Iggy. But we’re not waiting behind crowds all day either. I’d like to get Noct back to normal as soon as possible, and so would Prompto, and so would you, and so would the rest of Lucis.”

Fair enough. But they still had the good sense to be polite about it. Ignis was sure to at least excuse himself when he brushed past people, searching the stalls for fish tanks. Prompto grabbed his and Gladio’s shoulders somewhere along the way, pointing to the east of the market.

“Look, guys, look! Y’see what I see?” he asked excitedly. Sure enough, there were rows of fish tanks holding small schools of fresh fish within.

And an entire crowd of people in between them and those tanks.

It wasn’t an easy journey getting from point A to point B. Prompto had nearly gotten carried off by the flow of the crowd, screaming indignantly the entire way before Gladio managed to catch him. Ignis had nearly gotten run over by a group of children that hadn’t been paying the adults around them any mind. So many people had bumped into Gladio that he was actually getting dirty looks from the crowd _in front_ of them…the ones who hadn’t even come into contact with him yet. It was all one big mess, and at some point Prompto had tripped into one of the food vendors stalls and had to stay behind to clean up the mess he made, leaving Ignis and Gladio to fend for themselves. Somehow they made it over to the tanks, and once they did they immediately set to work.

“Hey,” Gladio called, catching the vendor’s attention. A short, stocky man with a ginger beard and a shiny, bald head walked over to them, eyeing them questioningly.

“What is it you want?” he asked.

“We’re, uh, looking for some fresh fish…” Gladio said. The vendor stood before his many tanks of fresh fish with an understandably condescending look on his face.

“Well you’ve come to the right place.”

“Yeah…” Gladio continued awkwardly. “You got any dace? Or myrltrout?”

The vendor stared them both down for a moment before finally deciding that they were harmless if not a little odd. Again, Ignis couldn’t blame him. Their entire entourage stood out. Frequently. “You can have a look at my dace over there. Don’t know which is which, don’t care. So if you need a specific type, I hope you’re good at guessing games.”

“And the myrltrout?” Ignis asked. The vendor raised his eyebrow again.

“You know how difficult it is to catch a fish in the Myrlwood?”

“Indescribably. Do you have it?” Ignis tried again, not quite in the mood for games. He knew all too personally what it was like fishing in the Myrlwood. He’d had to fish his prince out of those murky waters, after all.

“For a price,” the vendor grinned, teeth gleaming in the light as if solidifying the imagery that defined the phrase ‘deal with the devil’.

“We’ll pay it.” Ignis found himself rather capable of making dealings with difficult folk. He’d survived Lucian court, after all.

“Fine then. I keep my exotic fish in my truck. Keeps people from stealing and reselling them. Gimme a minute and I’ll find you your trout,” he said.

“They’re all alive, I hope?” Ignis asked.

“What’s it matter if you’re planning on eating them?” the vendor shrugged. Ignis didn’t answer verbally. He only stared the man down until he received a more favorable answer. The vendor rolled his beady black eyes.

“Yeah they’re all alive. Folks like their fish as fresh as possible around these parts. Something you big city boys probably never experienced.” The last part was grumbled under the man’s breath as he stomped away, heading for the city entrance where his truck was most likely parked. In the meantime, Ignis and Gladio made their way over to the tanks labeled ‘dace’, peering into the glass in order to find what they were looking for.

“You have any idea which ones we’re looking at?” Gladio asked as his eyes followed the movements of a spotted brown fish lazily listing through the water.

“Not a clue. Why not ask Noct? He’d recognize what he needs on sight, most likely.” Noctis’ fish fixation was many things. Sometimes annoying, sometimes endearing. Right now it had the potential to make itself useful, and that was all Ignis needed.

“Good point,” Gladio agreed, pulling out his phone. He pulled up his camera app and snapped a picture of the dace he had been watching to send to their resident fish expert, who’d kept his phone on him in case of any sort of emergency. It was more than a little lucky that the prince’s phone happened to be waterproof, when Ignis thought about it.

“The verdict?” Ignis asked when Gladio’s phone vibrated nearly immediately after he’d hit send. Ignis had half a mind to tell Noctis to stop holding his phone to his face and pay more attention to his guests.

“No go,” Gladio said after having glanced at the answer for a split second. His eyes were drawn to his phone again when it vibrated a second time, a cross look forming on his face as he read.

“That little shit…” he grumbled to himself, typing a response to whatever insult Noctis had probably lobbed at him through text. Ignis decided to be productive and check around for more dace; ones that happened to be different from the one they first found. He pointed out the varieties and prompted Gladio to snap pictures of each one, sending them to Noctis only to receive negative response after negative response. The stripped one was a no-go, the blue one was a no-go, the silvery purple one was a no-go, the rusty orange one was a no-go…

At this point they were running out of options. When the last picture they took, one of a plump, gray, stripped one, had earned the irate response of ‘that’s not even a dace’, they’d all but given up hope.

“How goes it?” Prompto asked, having finally escaped the wrath of the vendor whose stall he’d nearly knocked over. Gladio shook his head at the blond as he walked over to them.

“Not good. We’re not finding this damn cascade dace anywhere. The last one was apparently a bass put in the wrong tank. Makes me wonder if we’re really getting this myrltrout from that guy…” the shield responded. Prompto raised his eyes at both men, clearly surprised they hadn’t solved the dilemma before he got back (Ignis wasn’t surprised. When Ignis watched Noctis fish, he wasn’t paying any attention to the _fish_ ), before examining the tanks himself. He pointed a finger at a slender brown fish with much smaller spots than the first.

“Isn’t that it?” Prompto asked. Gladio’s eyes nearly bugged out at him.

“How the hell do you know that?!”

“Duh, Noct was making this big fuss over catching one because it apparently completed his collection. And he calls _me_ the nerd. I swear these fish are like pokemon to him.”

Aptly put, in Ignis’ opinion. Gladio snapped a picture of it and sent it to Noctis, breathing a sigh of relief when he received an affirmative. And, just to their luck, the vendor returned in that moment with a smaller tank holding a gleaming silver fish and presenting it to them. Gladio snapped a photo of that as well, smiling at the reply that came not a moment afterward. Seemed they’d found all their fish. The vendor frowned at them slightly as he set the tank down.

“I wasn’t lying to ya. Fresh platinum myrltrout, courtesy of Banjo’s Fish Fillet. Got that? _Banjo’s Fish Fillet_. Spread the word so people know where y’all shop.”

Ignis pulled at his wallet, nodding with as polite a smile as he could muster in the face of the vendor’s obnoxious plugging, before pulling out a few bills of gil.

“How much are you asking for?”

“Two thousand.”

In the background, Prompto started choking.

“…Pardon?”

“You heard me, Mr. Posh. Two thousand gil. ‘Course you could always just go to the Myrlwood yourselves and just catch one,” the vendor grinned greasily.

“You couldn’t sell it a little, I don’t know, cheaper?” Prompto asked, his voice scratchy from the coughing fit.

“Hey, it’s the cheapest in town. It’s the _only_ in town, unless you boys are planning on travelling to Altissia to pay twice as much for the same thing,” the man snorted. When the three didn’t make a move, he went to pick up the tank. “Though I guess if you don’t want it, I can just take it back.”

“Wait,” Ignis stopped him. “We’ll take it.” They couldn’t afford to wait much longer, and they certainly weren’t going to Altissia with Noctis still in the state he was in. They’d have to bite the bullet. The vendor set the tank down as Ignis pulled out the money, reluctantly handing it over. Once again grinning, the vendor…Banjo, Ignis presumed, nodded to them and left the tank where it was. Lucky for the group, as the bucket they were keeping the other fish in was rather small and they could use the extra space of the tank they’d just earned. At least Banjo allowed them to keep it instead of tossing them the fish and taking the tank back. That wouldn’t have ended well.

“Let’s get this back to the room quickly and transfer the other fish,” Ignis said, glad they’d taken the precaution of bringing the bucket into the hotel to set in the kitchen. Gladio had picked up the tank, carrying it in both arms so as to not drop it as they made their way back through the crowd.

“That was surprisingly painless,” Prompto said as they made their way up the front steps of the hotel.

“Our funds beg to differ,” Ignis quipped, holding the door open for Gladio as Prompto managed to slip in behind him. Not that Ignis would have minded holding the door for him too… He wasn’t rude…

“We can make back two thousand gil easy with a hunt,” Prompto shrugged, his grin a little tight. Ignis sighed and shook his head. While he was right, hunts weren’t exactly the most painless way to make back that money. And what they’d spent it on…

“It’s not the amount of money, so much as the reason it was spent. Two thousand gil could have gone towards paying for food, or facilities, or gas for the car. Instead we spent it on one fish.”

“One fish that we needed to get Noct back to normal. Think of the bigger picture, Iggy,” Gladio added. Ignis wasn’t even sure of that. There was still no guarantee that returning all of the fish to the Myrlwood Falls would actually give the magical talking fish incentive to change Noct back. He didn’t say anything on the matter though. No need to dash everyone’s hope before they even tried.

The entered the room they were staying in to the loud squeals of happy children and the splashing of water. Both Iris and Talcott emerged from the bathroom when they heard the door open, smiling widely and covered in water.

“You’re back!” Iris grinned, running up to the three and waiting for Gladio to set the fish tank down before tackle-hugging him. He swayed backwards a bit from the force, reflexively hugging her back even if he wasn’t sure where the giddiness was coming from.

“What’s got you so excited?” he asked.

“I just can’t believe it! I got to see a real mermaid!” she all but squeaked.

“ _Merman_!” came Noctis’ shout from the bathroom. Ignis made his way over to it, allowing Iris and Talcott to smother Prompto and Gladio in their excitement. He stepped carefully over the tiles, trying not to slip on the wet surface, before crouching down next to Noctis. The prince was sopping wet, staring at Ignis from underneath his dripping fringe with puppy blue eyes.

“They made me sing. Ignis. _They made me sing_.”

Ignis smirked a bit at that. “You could’ve refused, you know. You are the prince, after all.”

“Yeah, but they looked so happy and I couldn’t face the thought of bringing their moods down. But still. I’ve been turned into a sideshow attraction,” Noctis sighed dramatically.

“Well, the show will soon be over Highness. We’ve all the fish we need, and the Myrlwood is only a day trip away. We’ll change you back soon enough.”

Noctis, surprisingly, didn’t look as enthused as Ignis had thought he would. He’d sunk down a little further into the water, hunching his shoulders as his cheeks turned red from…embarrassment? And when Ignis asked what was wrong, he’d turned away, mumbling his answer.

“I…kinda like being like this.”

Ignis raised an eyebrow. “You wish to stay this way?”

“No! Definitely not! I can’t stay this way forever anyway, I’d be no help to anybody. But still… I get the feeling I’ll miss being half fish once it’s gone.”

Ah. Ignis supposed he could somewhat understand. Noctis had certainly looked as if he was enjoying himself when he was in the water. And with the power and prowess that came with his new form, he’d taken to the new environment phenomenally. It was no wonder that he’d miss the marine life. But it was as he said: he couldn’t stay that way forever.

“It’s alright Noct. Take all the time you need if you wish to remain a merman for a bit longer,” Ignis offered. Noctis shook his head.

“Nah, Specs. I can’t put this off. We go to the Myrlwood tomorrow and get Prissy Fish to change me back. It was fun while it lasted but…”

“But…?”

Noctis leaned over and placed a peck against Ignis’ lips, staying close even when he pulled away to speak in a low tone.

“I’d rather things go back to the way they were.”

Ignis could agree with that wholeheartedly.


	7. Noctis tells a really bad joke

Noctis could officially cross being sprayed at with a squirt bottle like a misbehaving dog off of his bucket list.

Not that he ever thought it would need to be added…

Considering how long the trip back to the Myrlwood would take, however, this was really the better alternative to stopping constantly to dunk him in water or else letting him dry out again. That was a hell he hoped never to experience again. His insides felt like they were burning, his outsides felt like crispy toast, the webbing between his fingers had gotten rubbery…he may have started crying at some point. Not that he would admit it. It was just the dryness of his eyes, that was all! Really!

Still, the group couldn’t spare the time to visit any pools, streams or rivers along the way, and the water in the fish tank they’d acquired couldn’t exactly be spared for him, so the group had bought a few squirt bottles filled with water before they left Lestallum. The task of spraying down Noctis was left to Prompto, who did so with an odd sort of enthusiasm. Considering how many times he’d sprayed Noctis in the face whenever the prince made some sort of sarcastic remark, it wasn’t hard to figure out where he found his humor. But still…

“My face is fine, Prompto. Maybe get the rest of my scales?” Noctis huffed, wiping water out of his eyes and flicking it at Gladio at the sound of the shield’s snickering. Prompto took his role seriously for a moment, brandishing the two bottles as twin guns and spraying them in tandem over the length of Noctis’ body.

“Thanks—”

And yet another squirt to the face. For good measure.

“…Prom—”

As well as another, interrupting what Noctis was about to say.

“Will you—”

Squirt.

“—stop that—”

Squirt.

“Prompto, I’ll have to ask that you take this seriously. You’re starting to distract me,” Ignis quipped. Of course he wasn’t actually that distracted, but Noctis silently thanked him for speaking on his behalf anyway. And then he promptly ripped a squirt bottle out of his best friend’s hand and sprayed the blond in the face with it.

“You’re cleaning up any water stains you got on my dad’s seats,” Noctis said, tossing the bottle back to Prompto once he’d wiped off his face. He didn’t seem too offended by it, judging from his laughter.

“Sorry, couldn’t help it,” he said to Ignis before turning to Noctis. “And dude, you’ve gotten enough water stains in here to make the Regalia smell like an aquarium for the next fifty years.”

“Yeah, and I’m trying not to make it worse. Hence why I’m not spraying myself down.” It’d get everywhere, and Noctis wouldn’t really be able to see what he was doing, despite his ability to twist his back in ways that were impossible for a normal human—much to his dismay because that could have otherwise been useful, and he likely would’ve gotten irritated enough to start dumping water on himself and that wouldn’t have turned out well. So he handed the bottle back to Prompto and turned to face away from him.

“Which means Prompto gets the fun job,” he concluded. Prompto must not have minded as he silently went back to spraying Noctis down. Gladio shifted a bit, moving his face away when one of Noctis’ fins almost smacked him, but otherwise didn’t say anything. He was the other candidate for ‘water squirter’. Apparently his job as ‘fish tank holder’ interfered with that? Despite the fish tank resting on the floor between his feet. Whatever, Noctis wasn’t going to argue with it.

“It’d be a lot more fun if we could stop to grab some eats on the way. I don’t think I’ll make it all the way to the Vesperpool on an empty stomach, let alone fight through plant monsters just to crawl through the Myrlwood,” Prompto sighed, spraying water over Noctis’ navy scales absentmindedly. He sat slumped over the back of the seat with his cheek smushed into the headrest, staring wistfully out into the wilderness as it passed by. The perfect ‘sad puppy’ look.

Ignis seemed to take pity on him, so at least it somewhat worked. “We can pick up something quick from the crow’s nest in Old Lestallum, but otherwise we’re continuing on. I’d like to reach the Myrlwood before nightfall. If we get caught there after sundown, we’ll have to either stay at the haven inside or fight out way through daemons until we find another. I’d rather avoid both.”

“Gotcha Iggy!” Prompto grinned, perking up immediately at the words ‘crow’s nest’. “We’ll be quick!”

“I thought you hated the crow’s nest in Old Lestallum. Said it was creepy,” Gladio said, raising an eyebrow.

“It is creepy,” Noctis chipped in. “That damn hick bird _watches people_ , I swear to Ramuh.”

He’d testify on the Cosmogony itself that that daemon bird turned its head when he sat down next to it that one day.

“Well then it’s a good thing you’ll both be in and out of there,” Ignis said, continuing south down the road that led into Old Lestallum instead of turning onto one of the roads that would take them north towards the Vesperpool. It would have either been that or another meal at Meldacio and that had given Gladio the shits, so they had subconsciously agreed not to eat anymore cooking ‘the way mama made it at home’. Or they could have chanced a convenience meal at Burbost Souvenir Emporium but, inconveniently enough, they didn’t have a microwave and Noctis wasn’t tossing anymore fire spells at their food. Not again. The Old Lestallum crow’s nest was, unfortunately, their best bet. But thankfully, if Noctis was interpreting Iggy’s words correctly, _he_ wouldn’t have to go in. Just Gladio and Prompto. That worked.

“What?” Prompto whined. “Why do me and Gladio have to go? Wouldn’t it be better if you went, Iggy?”

“Weren’t you the one celebrating the chance to get something to eat?”

“I didn’t think I’d actually have to go in there. Figured you’d take care of the shopping.”

Noctis turned over again, pushing himself up into a sitting position as he reached over and poked Prompto in the forehead. “Don’t treat Ignis like he’s your nanny.”

“Oh right, I forgot. Isn’t he _your_ nanny?” Prompto rolled his eyes.

“Exactly,” Noctis nodded. “So get your lazy ass into that diner and pick up some burgers to go.”

“I can’t believe the King of Sloth just called me a lazy ass…”

Despite the complaints however, Prompto readily got out of the car once they reached Old Lestallum. Gladio…not so much. He sat back and watched Prompto with his hands behind his head, nodding down at the sparkling blue fish tail rested over his lap.

“I’m kinda occupied, so have fun.”

Noctis reached over into Prompto’s seat and grabbed one of the squirt bottles that had been set down, aiming at his shield’s face and spraying.

“Bad. Go help Prompto.”

It earned him an understandably irritated look. Grinning mischievously from behind the shield, Prompto grabbed the other bottle while Gladio wasn’t looking and promptly sniped him in the back of the head. And then the face when Gladio turned around. Noctis lifted himself up as Gladio launched out of his seat, vaulted over the door, and chased Prompto into the diner.

Noctis turned to Ignis and immediately struck up a conversation. “So, Specs, wanna hear this goofy joke Talcott told me?”

“Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret saying yes?”

“Probably because it’s terrible. He heard it from Jared apparently.”

Ignis only waited for Noctis to continue.

“So a cactuar and a slactuar go into a motel, and they meet up with this lady who says ‘I bet I could take a thousand pri—”

“And I’m going to stop you there. I’m pretty sure I know how this one ends and I _really don’t need to hear it again_.”

-o-

It’d taken about half an hour for Prompto and Gladio to leave the crow’s nest, and another ten minutes to rearrange the seating while trying not to spill food everywhere, get the seats wet, and knock Noctis around too much (mostly on Gladio’s part as he tried to climb back into the car while pushing Noct’s tail every which way…and getting smacked with a few fins all the while. Yes it was on purpose). And it’d led to another interesting topic of discussion as they drove back up north towards the Vesperpool.

“What’ll Noct eat?” Prompto had asked, fiddling with the wrapper on his burger. Ignis met Noctis’ eyes through the rearview mirror and he sighed as he slowed the car down, reaching behind himself into the back to fish into his travel bag, which had been left out for this very reason. For a fish. Noctis knew this because he’d realized rather quickly that his new body was made for eating one specific thing.

Fish.

The baked creature, still whole in appearance but thankfully gutted, was pulled out of its storage and handed to Noctis, who immediately started pulling at the wrappings. It was something Ignis had whipped up for him before they’d left Lestallum, prepared in case the prince was hungry. Which he surprisingly wasn’t, at the time. He wasn’t sure if it was jitters over the trip back and the subsequent meeting with the magic fish or if his body was just doing weird things, but thankfully it didn’t last throughout the day and he found himself hungry enough to try what Ignis made for him. He ignored the way the other two flinched when he started eating.

“Dude, _you’re_ eating an entire fish? _You_? Prince Carrot-phobia?” Prompto asked in awe, his jaw dropped as his burger hung loosely in his fingers, the grease running down them and the wrapper. Noctis watched woefully as he was reminded of the food he couldn’t have anymore. What he wouldn’t give for a nice burger. And it wasn’t as if he minded fish, not at all. He loved fish. But _being one_ put things into perspective.

“What else am I supposed to eat? It’s cooked and gutted and that’s good enough for me,” Noctis shot back, taking another pronounced chomp into his meal and tearing a chunk off. A small chunk. He couldn’t chew it, after all.

“It _still has eyeballs!_ ”

“Leave ‘im alone, Prompto. That’s what we’re going to the Myrlwood to fix,” Gladio defended, though his voice was as flat and bored as it could have possibly managed. Nice to know Noct’s shield cared so much.

“I don’t think His Highness has much room to be picky at the moment, Prompto,” Ignis said. Noctis made a face at him in the rearview mirror, knowing full well Ignis could’ve chopped the head off too. It wasn’t like Noctis was going to eat that part anyway. He still had _standards_.  “At any rate, it won’t last much longer. Soon enough, we’ll be at the Myrlwood and we can convince the creature in the pool to change Noct back.”

There was an uncomfortable, unspoken ‘maybe’ in there, and it terrified Noctis to think that she might _not_ change him back.

It was too late to turn back even if they wanted to, however. They reached the road that led up into the Myrlwood by mid-afternoon and soon enough Noctis was being hefted up over Gladio’s shoulder as Ignis reached into the back and pulled out the fish tank. Prompto was told to have his gun at the ready, and he would be the one holding off the bulk of any attackers. Gladio might get by with a few sword swings and Ignis with a few thrown daggers, but they were trying to avoid a situation in which Noctis needed to use magic because if they got caught in the midst of it, they might accidentally fry him. Or freeze him. Who knew, considering the reaction his body had to being dried out in the Cauthess heat. The system worked for them, thankfully, as they made their way through the secluded forest and into the back where the pool and the haven were. Noctis was slid off of Gladio’s shoulder and down into the water, and the fish they’d caught joined him shortly.

Noctis cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. “Hey! Magic fish! We brought back your buddies! I need to speak with you, so come out!”

There was silence for a moment, long enough for Noctis to swim a bit further in and shout for her again. Still nothing. He turned to his friends and shrugged, watching their faces in hopes of an answer he doubted he’d actually receive from them, before preparing to dive under the water.

“Wait, Noct!” came Prompto’s voice. He halted his descent, paddling his arms and swishing his tail in order to push himself back up as he looked around, figuring that Prompto had spied the magic fish hanging around in the water somewhere. Sure enough, his eyes caught silver and he spotted the gleaming fish’s head poking out of the water by a collection of rocks. She floated there for a moment, watching him. Judging him, he’d bet.

“Those aren’t my brethren, you primitive creature,” she eventually seethed, her voice echoing across the chamber, loud enough for even the others to hear. A far cry from the small voice Noctis had heard in his head the first time, though still just as childlike and strange.

Also, she was definitely judging him.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, exasperated. “I brought back all of the fish I pulled out of the pool.”

“These fish are from outside waters! You probably ate the original fish, you ape!”

Noctis was inclined to point out that if she didn’t want him to eat fish, she probably shouldn’t have turned him into something that was made to eat fish, but instead he kept his mouth shut about it.

“What’s it matter? They’re the same types of fish,” Noctis sighed, rubbing at his temple in irritation. It seemed Gladio’s plan hadn’t worked in the end, and honestly they hadn’t really expected it to, but it was still worth a shot. Or so they thought. In the end, it seemed to just piss off magic fish more. Judging by her affronted gasp, he would definitely wager it had.

The fish suddenly disappeared beneath the water before jumping out of it in a flash of white light, producing in her place a small girl with long, wavy blonde hair. A small, strange creature, in fact, that settled herself on one of the rocks beside her. One would think, at first glance, that she was simply a mermaid from the golden-scaled fish tail. But most didn’t imagine mermaids with wings. Equally golden and folded neatly onto her back, the girl sported magnificent wings that almost glowed from how well they shone. She glared at the group with yellow eyes, perched haughtily upon her rock as her tail splashed the water around. And when she spoke, a familiar voice met Noctis’ ears.

“You must take me for a fool, don’t you?” she asked, her childlike voice boiling with anger under the surface.

“Not quite. If anything, we’re just desperate,” Noctis answered, cringing a bit when she narrowed her fiery gaze at him.

“Desperate? For what? Haven’t I given you enough?” she raged, her knuckles white as they clutched at a small golden object in her hands. It almost looked like…a lyre?

Seriously, what was she?

“Uh…not to seem ungrateful, but I didn’t really _want_ to be turned into a merman,” Noctis answered. The creature’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Was I to let you drown then? Perhaps I should have. How rude of you to reject my gift!”

Noctis decided it would have been counterproductive to mention that she was the one who nearly drowned him in the first place.

“Sorry? I can’t stay like this forever, I have my own duty to get back to,” Noctis shrugged awkwardly.

“Ah, yes. The King of the Stone. Hmph! If anything, I was doing you a favor to keep you from that duty. But I suppose if you’re so upset at my gift, I’ll gladly take it back.”

Noctis’ eyes widened at the creature’s easy guess to his identity, but he wasn’t given a chance to question her when she began to glow and the same wisps of magic that had turned him into a merman surrounded him again, transforming him just as rapidly. Immediately, he felt the familiarity of his own body. The joy of having only lungs, and normal eyes, and normal teeth, and –thank the gods– _legs_! He stared down at his arms in wonder, glad to see nothing but smooth skin as opposed to the scales he had only recently started to grow accustomed to. And a little bit of a shame, if he was honest with himself. It was nice while it lasted. But in the end, it was high time he returned to himself. He looked up again at the creature, prepared to thank her for changing him back. She watched him steadily, unnervingly, as if she was once again judging him harshly and he wasn’t quite living up to her expectations. A product of his rejection of her “gift” perhaps?

Honestly, he wasn’t sure and he didn’t really care.

“Thanks, uh…?”

Her lips thinned in annoyance, but she answered him nonetheless. “You may call me Siren.”

“Thanks, Siren.”

“Do not thank me, mortal. You may hold the favor of the stars, but you’ve yet to impress me. Take your legs and leave my pool be.” And with that, Siren slipped back into the pool, leaving behind no trace that she’d even been there at all. It was…odd.

This entire situation was odd. But it was also over, and Noctis was happy with that.

He turned to Ignis, raising an eyebrow. “Ever heard of a Siren anywhere before?”

Ignis stared at the spot where Siren had sat contemplatively, likely turning her words over in his head. It took him a moment to answer, but eventually he did so as he walked over to pull Noctis out of the water.

“She seems to be a lesser astral, much like Carbuncle and the like. She’s a finicky creature, however, only ever spoken about in legend. There are different accounts on her; some say she’s a beautiful woman with large golden wings, some say she’s a mermaid with a golden tail, all tend to agree that she carries a lyre and has the singing voice of an angel. Beyond that? I couldn’t tell you anything you won’t have already realized from meeting her.”

“Sania said something about paying attention to mythology. You think this is what she meant?” Prompto asked. Ignis opened his mouth to answer but, as if on cue, Noctis’ phone started ringing. Eyebrow raised, he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his cell, checking the screen and finding an unknown number displayed across it. Not that this was the first time he’d gotten a call from someone who knew his number without having asked him for it first. Far from it.

“Hello?”

“ _Hey, it’s you boys! Right?_ ”

Noctis found, to only his mild surprise, that the professor of science in question had indeed called him.

“Yeah, it’s us. What’s up?” he asked. The others watched him curiously, though no one interrupted.

“ _So I examined this scale of yours a little closer and I’ve found that it has trace amounts of energy from the meteor. Not something usually so widespread, probably introduced to the environment by something else…likely you boys, but I’d noted that some of the mutations I’ve found in the frogs showed the same signature._ ”

“Okay…?”

“ _Sorry to inform you, but… I think this had nothing to do with the fish. I’m not even sure there was a fish. You might have been hallucinating while the energy mutated you into a fish-hybrid. I’m sorry to say not even modern medicine will be able to save you from that. Looks like you’re stuck that way._ ”

Noctis wasn’t even sure there were words to describe the face he was making, but whatever it was seemed to amuse his friends as they started grinning and snickering while they watched him. He figured it’d be for the best just to not mention that they had indeed met a magical fish, and that it was Sania’s first prediction about mythology, and that he had not been mutated, and that he was no longer a fish because honestly he wasn’t in the mood for arguing about this.

“Okay,” he said instead. “Thanks Sania.”

“ _Hey, you sound like you’re taking it pretty well! That’s the spirit. Anyway, if you ever want to donate your body to science, just know that I’m always around. See you boys soon._ ”

And with that, Sania hung up on Noctis, allowing him to quickly stuff his phone back into his pocket. Sighing, he looked back up at the others. All of whom still looked pretty amused, he noticed.

“Well, speak of the devil huh?” Prompto grinned.

“Anything important she have to say?” Gladio asked.

Noctis shook his head. “Not really. Anyway, let’s just get out of here. I’m done with this place.”

“Highness, wait.”

“Iggy, c’mon, don’t tell me you actually want to spend more time here…”

“Certainly not. But I’m sure you don’t want to go walking around outside only half dressed,” Ignis sighed, waving a hand at Noctis’ newly returned legs. Noctis looked down only to realize that said newly returned legs didn’t also come with a pair of magically returned pants. Thus he was naked from the waist down.

And no one had said a damn thing.

“Aw man, I was hoping you wouldn’t say anything Iggy,” Prompto said, his grin widening before he inevitably burst into laughter.

“Yeah, shoulda let him figure it out for himself,” Gladio snorted before his own guffaws were let loose.

Ignis pulled off his jacket and tied it around Noctis’ waist, staying close to him as he turned around.

“Alright, alright,” Ignis said quietly, trying to calm the others down. Noctis stared holes into the back of his head, knowing full well that he was grinning too. What the hell was he even laughing at? He saw Noctis naked on a near daily basis. Guess it was funny all of a sudden when he was cluelessly walking around pantsless.

…Okay maybe it was a little funny when he thought about it.

“I’ll cover you from the front and we’ll get you a spare pair from the car. No one really drives around these parts too often, so we should be fine if we’re quick,” Ignis continued, turning his head to address Noctis directly.

“Got it, Specs, let’s just go. I just want to put this entire mess behind me.”

Both Ignis and Prompto opened their mouths and Noctis was quick to cut them off.

“If either of you makes an ass pun, I’m banishing you both from the kingdom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I played with the idea of adding siren because it's a term that I often hear used in reference to mermaids even though sirens are usually winged women (and are usually portrayed in Final Fantasy as the latter). So I thought...why not both? Mermaid with wings. There has been weirder...


End file.
